Red Curry Peanut Noodles

***UPDATE - AMAAAAZING AS LEFTOVERS!***

Let me start off by telling you a little story about making peanut dishes...

About four years ago now I moved in with Brent and his roommate, Chris, for a month while Brent and I were waiting for our apartment.  I decided I was going to try to impress these guys again with my cooking and I found a Thai peanut chicken recipe and decided I was going to make it.

I followed the directions to the T (and if you ask Brent, sometimes I have issues doing that).  The peanut butter I used was an all natural kind and I had no idea that "melting" natural pb is not possible.  I found that out the hard way.  That pb burned to the bottom of my pan and stunk up the entire house. It was horrible.. And embarrassing.

We went out to eat that night.

THAT BEING SAID.....

I found a curry peanut recipe on Pinterest.  *big grin*

I (kinda) followed the directions on this one.

1/2 pkg spaghetti noodles
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces

Here's the curry paste I use.  This stuff is awesome

Right off the bat, here's what I changed:  I used 1tbsp of the red curry paste.  This kind I bought the last time is HOT HOT HOT.
I didn't use onion as we don't eat onion.
I added 1/4 tsp of minced garlic (I buy the pre-minced stuff in the jar, I get fewer complaints about food smell from my better half that way)

-Cook the pasta, following the package directions, 8 - 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk pb with 1/4 cup water, curry paste, soy, and honey (don't worry if it's lumpy, it'll melt when cooked).

-Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high.  Add oil, then onion and chicken.  Stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  Add pb mixture and reduce heat to medium, stir frequently until chicken is cooked, about 2 minutes or so.  (To cut down on food smell in our apartment I start the and oil in a cool pan and cook from there.)

-Ladle out 1/2 cup pasta water and add to sauce.  Add broccoli to pasta water for last minute of cooking.  Drain pasta and broccoli, then return to pasta pot.  Stir in chicken mixture until combined.  Serve with chopped peanuts if desired.

Crunchy Cheddar Chicken

It's amazing to me the amount of cheese I eat considering I have such an issue with dairy.  Thank goodness for Lactaid!!

Today's recipe is brought to you by Pinterest!  When you're bored at work, you know where to go!

Here's the link that I got the recipe from on Pinterest.  She has PHENOMENAL pictures guiding you through the steps, I totally recommend checking out her page and her recipes.

Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts

2 sleeves Ritz crackers

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional, I didn't add it, the crackers are salty enough)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup milk

3 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1-1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:

1   10 ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons butter

Splash of milk (if sauce is too thick)

- Cut each chicken breast into three large chunks.

- In a small food processor grind up crackers (I just put them in a ziplock bag and rolled over 'em with a rolling pin)

- Pour the milk, cheese and crackers in three separate pans or bowls.  Mix the salt, pepper and parsley up in together.

- Dip each piece of chicken into the milk.

....  Then the cheese - press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers.

....  Then dip in cracker crumbs - you'll lose some of the cheese in the bread crumbs, don't worry about it. Press the cracker crumbs into the chicken.

-  Place chicken into sprayed 9x13 pan (I took the left over crumbs (there wasn't much left) and poured it over the chicken in the pan.. I couldn't waste the precious cheese)  ;)

-  Cover pan with foil (I had a glass cover for mine) and bake at 415˚F for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

-  While the chicken is cooking combine the ingredients for the sauce and cook it up so it's nice and hot..Serve over the chicken.

ENJOY!

Super easy, super yummy.  ;)

It's the tiiiiime of the seeeaason for...

PIE!

Apple, even!

It's been a while... Cheesy Stuffed Shells

So, pretty sure I've had these pictures on my desktop for forever...  I have been cooking at home, I swear, I've just been busy and have had no time to blog...

• 16 oz cottage cheese (I use a half ricotta and half cottage cheese mixture)
• 1 pkg (10 oz) spinach (frozen, thaw and squeeze excess liquid out of.. or chop fresh spinach)
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp italian seasoning
• 20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained and rinsed in cold water
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 large tomato, chopped (optional, but highly recommended)
• ******* I usually make extra of the cheese/spinach mixture because I severely overstuff my shells.

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F - mix cheese and half of mozzarella cheese, spinach and seasoning until well blended. Spoon one heaping tbsp evenly into each pasta shell***(I put the mixture into a ziplock bag and snip a corner off and "pipe" the cheese into each shell...)
2. Combine sauce and tomatoes - pour half mixture into 9x13 baking dish - place shells, filled size up in baking dish - spoon remaining sauce over shells
3. Cover with foil - bake 25 minutes, or until heated through. Uncover, top with remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for an additional 2 minutes or until Mozzarella is melted.